From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The stock market closed out a volatile month of March on an upbeat note with small caps leading the advance. The Russell 2000 gained 1.8% while the S&P 500 settled higher by 0.8% with nine sectors ending in the green. The benchmark index was able to eke out a 0.7% gain for the month while the Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000 could only trim their losses. The Nasdaq ended the month with a decline of 2.5% while the Russell 2000 lost 1.0% in March.
Equity indices made the bulk of their advance during the opening hour before spending the remainder of the session inside narrow ranges. The upbeat start took place after a weekend phone call between President Obama and Vladimir Putin, discussing the situation in Ukraine, was viewed as a step that increased the chances for a diplomatic solution to the standoff between Russia and Ukraine.
The early buying interest was also bolstered by comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who spoke at a conference in Chicago, saying the Fed remains short of its employment and inflation goals and that the economy requires 'considerable support for some time.'
Today's session featured outperformance in some areas that have been lacking in strength recently. Biotechnology, which was under close scrutiny over the past two weeks, displayed broad gains with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 236.40, +7.02) climbing 3.1%. The ETF trimmed its March decline to 10.6% while the group's outperformance gave a boost to the health care sector (+1.3%), which finished the day ahead of the remaining groups.
Similar to health care, most other top-weighted sectors ended among the leaders. Financials (+1.0%), industrials (+1.0%), and technology (+0.8%) outperformed while the discretionary sector (+0.6%) lagged.
Notably, the industrial sector received strong support from transports as indicated by a 1.7% gain in the Dow Jones Transportation Average. The bellwether complex rallied with all 20 components finishing in the green. Airlines had the best showing among specific industry groups with United Continental (UAL 44.63, +1.67) setting the pace.
Elsewhere, the discretionary space trailed the benchmark index throughout the session, which was fitting for a sector that ended the month at the bottom of the leaderboard (-2.9%). General Motors (GM 34.42, -0.31) lost 0.9% after Reuters reported the company accepted ignition switches from its supplier even though the parts did not meet standards set by the company.
Treasuries ended flat after showing morning losses. The benchmark 10-yr yield ended at 2.72%.
Participation was above average with month-end flows contributing to the strong volume as more than 820 million shares changed hands at the NYSE.
Today's economic data was limited to the Chicago PMI for March, which fell to 55.9 from 59.8 while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 60.1. After three consecutive months above 60, the Chicago PMI fell to into the 59 range in January and February. At the time, severe winter weather conditions were blamed for the weakness in the PMI. As temperatures returned to normal, the consensus assumed manufacturing activities would return to their Q4 2013 levels, but that did not happen. A sharp drop in new orders (58.8 from 63.6) led to an overall pullback in manufacturing activities. Production, meanwhile, managed to improve to 61.7 from 59.6 as manufacturers worked down their backlogs (50.4 from 53.7).
Tomorrow, the ISM Index for March (Briefing.com consensus 54.0) and February Construction Spending (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%) will both be reported at 10:00 ET.
S&P 500 +1.3% YTD
Russell 2000 +0.9% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +0.5% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.7% YTD
DJ30 +134.60 NASDAQ +43.24 SP500 +14.72 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2123/1.90 bln/643 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2348/833.1 mln/721 3:40 pm :
Commodities ended mostly lower with energy and metals posting losses and ag posting mixed results, between grains and soft commodities.
Following USDA reports, corn, wheat and soybeans all rallied after initial volatility
May corn ended the day up 2.2% at $5.02/bu, May wheat rose 2 cents at $6.97/bu and May soybeans rose 1.8% at $14.62/bu
Natural gas futures sold off today and ended the day at its session low. May nat gas closed 2.6% higher at $4.37/MMBtu
May crude oil lost $0.10 to close at $101.57/barrel
4:02PM Linear Tech calls for full redemption of 3.00% convertible senior notes due May 1, 2027; aggregate principal amount of the notes currently outstanding is approximately $845 mln (LLTC) 48.69 +0.84 : LLTC is calling for redemption on May 1, 2014 all of the outstanding principal amount of its 3.00% Convertible Senior Notes due May 1, 2027. The aggregate principal amount of the Notes currently outstanding is approximately $845 million.
Upon redemption, holders of the Notes will receive the principal amount of the Notes being redeemed.
Accrued and unpaid interest on the Notes being redeemed will be paid to the holder of record of the Notes on April 15, 2014, the record date for the interest payment due on May 1, 2014.
The Notes are currently convertible as a result of the Company calling the Notes for redemption.
Each $1,000 principal amount of the Securities is currently convertible at a rate of 24.582054 shares of the Company's common stock, par value $0.001 per share, with the conversion value settled in cash and common stock as provided in the Indenture for the Notes.
In addition, holders of the Notes have the right to require the Company to repurchase their Notes on May 1, 2014, at a purchase price equal to the principal amount of the Notes being repurchased
12:37PM Notable movers of interest (SCANX) : The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).
Large Cap Gainers
MU (23.55 +7.49%): Mentioned positively at RBC Capital Markets and Drexel Hamilton; co scheduled to report Q2 results after the close on April 3 TEVA (52.26 +5.67%): Target raised to $50 from $40 at UBS; Reuters reporting that U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal filed by TEVA in patent litigation for multiple sclerosis drug CopaxoneQIHU (99.33 +4.29%): Reached partnership with China Unichom's (CHU) Beijing sbusidiary on free data, according to report from Marbridge Consulting Large Cap Losers
GG (24.58 -2.11%): Filed technical report for 100% owned Eleonore project and its 40% owned Pueblo Viejo mine: Eleonore project contrained 4.03 mln ounces of proven and probable gold mineral reserves and 4.10 mln ounces of inferred gold mineral resources as of December 31, 2013
CLR (123.34 -1.85%): Downgraded to Accumulate from Buy at KLR Group
WMB (40.61 -0.76%): Seeing reports of a fire at one of co's facilities in Plymouth, Washington
Mid Cap Gainers
ACAS (15.7 +10.49%): Announced open market repurchase of 8.9 mln of its shares
ISIS (43.22 +8.87%): Reported final Phase 2 data on ISIS-APOCIII Rx in patients with high triglycerides taking fibrates: reductions of up to 64% in triglycerides achieved
VIPS (148.6 +7.68%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman
Mid Cap Losers
GFI (3.77 -3.46%): Weakness in mid-cap gold stocks: AEM, EGO, KGC, AU also lower
HDS (26.06 -2.32%): Filed for a 30 mln share common stock offering by selling stockholders
BBRY (8.24 -2.03%): Downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Evercore; downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, target lowered to $6 from $7
12:13PM Industrial Spdr retesting the morning high at 52.30, its two week trading range high is slightly above at 52.38 (XLI) 52.30 +0.57 : The XLI is the top performing S&P sector with it flirting with the upper end of its two week trading range -- MMM, BA, CAT, EMR, HON, UPS, UTX, UNP, GE, DHR, FDX.
12:05PM Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (141) outpacing new lows (34) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AA, AAV, AEGN, AMKR, ARTX, ASMI, ASX, AVA, BAS, BHI, BIOF, BPZ, CALM, CAT, CCE, CDW, CHE, CJES, CLR, CMI, CORT, CPS, CRK, CRR, CSTM, CVGW, CWEI, DMND, DOC, DPS, DTE, ECA, EGY, EIX, ELY, EMES, EOG, EQM, ETE, FANG, FL, FLIR, FMNB, FNHC, FTR, GLW, GPIC, GPOR, GSOL, HAL, HBI, HCA, HEES, HIL, HOLI, HRL, IDSA, IFN, IMO, ISSI, IVAC, IVZ, JNJ, KEG, KND, KNX, LM, LNG, LNT, MAR, MDT, MFRM, MGPI, MLM, MSFT, MTR, MTZ, NDZ, NEE, NICE, NJR, NOA, NORD, NRG, NVS, NWE, NYT, OFED, OILT, ORAN, ORBK, ORCL, PBA, PDS, PEG, PES, PESI, PF, PJC, PLCM, PPC, PVA, R, RBA, RCAP, RCG, ROK, RVSB, RYAAY, SAN, SGMA, SGY, SLCA, SNA, SPAN, STKL, STS, STZ, SXL, TEP, TEVA, TFX, THRM, TLMR, TNET, TOT, TSN, TSRA, TV, TXI, UGI, USMO, VIMC, VVC, WDC, WEC, WES, WG, WGP, WLB, WSTG
Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ANAD, AVEO, AXGN, BTX, CBSO, CCCL, CLSN, COOL, CSLT, CWTR, EGAN, FOR, LPDX, MDCO, MITK, NEWL, NSR, NVTL, OPHC, PGRX, PMCT, RALY, RELL, REPH, RLOC, SPEX, SPHS, STLY, TGE, TWMC, VALV, VRNS, WHX, ZTS
ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: DIG, EIS, EWI, EWK, EWN, EWP, EZU, IEO, IGE, IOO, IXC, IYE, MES, XES, XLE
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: none
STMicroelectronics (STM) announced that Maxwell Guider Technology selected ST's LSM330 6-axis inertial module and LIS3DSH 3-axis accelerometer as the foundation for its low-power motion-sensing activity trackers suited for all generations and lifestyles.
Corning (GLW) and Atmel (ATML) are collaborating to develop ultra-thin capacitive touchscreens with superior multi-touch performance for next-generation applications.
SanDisk (SNDK) announced four new additions to its CloudSpeed Serial ATA product family: the CloudSpeed Extreme, CloudSpeed Ultra, CloudSpeed Ascend and CloudSpeed Eco Solid State Drives.
8:05AM Ingram Micro Takes cloud business global; expands reach to 170 countries (IM) 28.79 : Co announced it is expanding Ingram Micro Cloud into a worldwide services organization that will specialize locally and scale globally to accelerate the adoption of cloud services
MagnaChip Semi (MX) announced that Margaret Sakai has resigned as the Company's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and from all other officer and director positions with the Company and its subsidiaries, effectively immediately. The Company is currently negotiating the terms of Ms. Sakai's separation from MagnaChip's Korean subsidiary. The Company also announced today that the Company's Board of Directors has appointed Jonathan W. Kim, the Company's Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, as Interim Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. The Board has also commenced a search for a new Chief Financial Officer. As previously announced on March 11, 2014, the Audit Committee of the Company's Board of Directors has commenced an internal review into the Company's accounting practices and procedures with outside professional advisors, and such internal review remains ongoing. While substantial progress has been made, it is expected that this review and work with regard to the previously announced restatement will take several more months, and as a result the Company will be postponing its annual investor conference to a date to be announced after the filing of its Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Wix.com (WIX) announced that, due to adverse market conditions, it has withdrawn the registration statement on Form F-1 it filed on March 20, 2014 for the proposed public offering of ordinary shares by it and certain selling shareholders.
Needham upgraded Blackberry (BBRY) to Hold from Underperform on the strength and competence of the company's new management team and the possibility of an upside surprise in BlackBerry sales later this year. John Chen, the new CEO, seems to have brought adult supervision to the company. Firm sees potential for a meaningful upgrade cycle in the co's installed base later this year when BlackBerry introduces its new "Classic" business smartphone. Firm is raising its fiscal 2015 estimate from a loss of $3.85 to a loss of $1.75.
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